Gauhar Khan

Mumbai: Ekta Kapoor has chosen Gauhar Khan as the new-age Helen to dance on the popular cabaret number "Piya tu ab to aaja" in her upcoming venture "Once Upon A Time in Mumbai".

Based on Mumbai's underworld in the 1970s, the film is being directed by Milan Luthria and stars Ajay Devgn in the lead role.

Raju Khan has been brought to do the choreography for what's touted as the most expensive cabaret ever shot in Bollywood.

Gauhar danced to the beats of "Piya tu ab to aaja" so hard last week that a shard of shattered glass wounded her leg.

The director and her excited producer intend to unveil their new-age Helen and the prized recreation of the smouldering cabaret number from the 1970s at an elaborate press conference later this month.

Pritam Chakraborty, who has given music to the song, says he refused to do a straight remix of "Piya tu…"

"I really see no point in doing a straight-off remix specially when it's an R.D. Burman track. That means the original is still fresh in the listeners' mind. Why should I tamper with an evergreen? So what I've done for Milan's cabaret is to incorporate just a bit of RD's 'Piya to ab to aaja' from 'Caravan' and 'Duniya mein logon ko' from 'Apna Desh'. The rest of the song is my original composition," Pritam told IANS.

Apparently when Gauhar heard the song, she flipped out.

"Yes, they all loved the song. But I won't do a re-mix of an R.D. Burman or any other composition," said Pritam.